A Different Sort of Countrymen
by Johnlockiarty
Summary: While Ed and Al are off on their adventures, they find a mysterious foreigner in need. After being dragged into his affairs, will they chose to see it through or drop him in the middle of a street somewhere? Rated T for various reasons. (Also old, possibly will be rewritten and uploaded.)
1. Prologue: Through The Barrier

**Prologue: Through the Barrier**

Author's Notes: Hello everyone~! This is my first upload in quite awhile. To get things started, I would like to mention that I am a huge nerd for the Romans. My favorite section in time goes from Julius Caesar through to the death of Mark Antony~. (They're my two favorite Romans~. I dunno why~.) There will be historical elements involved in the parts of this story that have to do with Rome, but must of it comes from Shakespeare because I love his work! (*cough* *cough*) I got myself back into FMA the other day, so this is kind of a crossover between FMA Brotherhood and the Tragedy of Julius Caesar.

This is the prologue so it's going to be shorter than the actual chapters. This isn't even 1000 words, but so far, Chapter 1 is over 2000. I hope that you enjoy this little intro.

**Disclaimers: Fullmetal Alchemist belongs to Hiromu Arakawa (who is awesome)**  
** The Tragedy of Julius Caesar belongs to William Shakespeare (who is awesome and dead)**  
** The appearances of the Romans belong to me because of my original story. If you would rather be reading something that, you have to talk to me. Hurr~.**  
** The few OCs that appear belong to myself and my friends.**

And thank you to everyone who contributed to the writing of this fic. _Gratia~._

**Let us begin...**

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A young blonde alchemist plopped into a seat next to a giant suit of armor. He sighed, shoving off his leather boots and inspecting his right foot. Cursing, he looked at the suit.

"Look at this, Al! I've already got a blister!" He shouted loud enough for the entire train to hear. A few people glanced over at them, making bizarre faces. It was pretty strange for them to see an itty-bitty person with an armored guy on a train. It just wasn't normal. There wasn't ever anything normal about these two people, though.

The suit of armor scratched its head, examining the splotch of blood on the blonde's foot. "Geez, Ed…Haven't I told you to put something in those boots of yours? They're tearing up your feet."

"It's not just the shoes…It's all of the walking, I guess…" He said, holding out his hand. "You have a cloth over there, right?"

"Yep." The armor pulled out a cloth and handed it to the boy.

The blonde wrapped the material around his bleeding sole and sighed. He slipped his boot back on and leaned back. "I'm glad that we get some time to rest. This foot needs to heal."

"We'll be there in a few days. I don't think it'll be healed by then…"

"It'll be fine. Let's just relax for the time being…"

* * *

Thousands of miles away beyond the desert and the legendary sea beyond the sand, a cloaked figure shuffled through a large crowd of panicking citizens. A few people bumped into it, causing the hood to fall and revealing another older looking blonde. Tossing it back up, he squeezed between people to reach the front of the mass.

A few workers were loading up supplies to the steerage. One of them was off to the side, drinking from a steaming goblet. The disguised blonde made his way over to the captain-looking man. He looked up upon seeing the stranger in front of him. "Eh? What do you want?"

After a moment's consideration, the hooded man spoke in a shaky voice. "Please…You have to take me with you…"

The leader of the sailors stared at him for a moment, considering what to do. He laughed and said "Why would I take a rat like you along on this voyage? I have not let anyone else aboard. Why would I make an exception for you?"

"You cannot deny me…I-I am all that this country…has left…" The voice became weaker as it went on. A few raspy breaths were heard in the disturbing silence that followed.

The captain blinked a few times. He bent down to look beneath the hood and jumped back, spilling all of his beverage. "Y-You! You are…"

Knowing that it was inevitable, the hood was pulled off by its owner. "Yes…Please let me join you…I have…no other choice…"

Realizing how short he was on time, the captain shouted at his underlings, "Hurry up! We have to leave now!" He turned back to the blonde, tilting his head toward the ramp where they were loading things. "Go on! If those people are really coming after you, they will be here soon!"

Within seconds, everyone was on board. As they set sail, a group of people wielding blades of all sorts arrived at the docks. They were too late, but the impression that they had left was already doing more damage than they ever could…

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Odds are that if you made it this far, you must have a large attention span. Anyways, I'm uploading this at the same time as Chapter 1 as to not disappoint you or keep you waiting. :3 Stick around for more weirdness!


	2. Chapter 1: Desert Surprises

**Chapter 1: Desert Surprises**

Author's Notes: Well, like I said, here's Chapter 1. Alphonse acts really...REALLY weird in this. I'll talk more about it on the other side, but this is just a warning. Oh yeah, and names are used this time! Yay!

Chapter 1 is...Near 3000 words long? I didn't mean for it to be so long...I just couldn't find a good stopping point.

**Disclaimers: Fullmetal Alchemist belongs to Hiromu Arakawa (who is awesome)**  
**The Tragedy of Julius Caesar belongs to William Shakespeare (who is awesome and dead)**  
**The appearances of the Romans belong to me because of my original story. If you would rather be reading something that, you have to talk to me. Hurr~.**  
**The few OCs that appear belong to myself and my friends.**

I hope that you may enjoy this at least a little bit. ^^;

**Let us begin...**

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"What?" Edward Elric said, staring in shock at the abnormally large priest in front of him. "After everything that we went through to get to this point…" He just continued to stare.

"Um…If you please…could you let me go?" The priest said hopefully.

Edward glared down at him. "Get the hell out of here!"

He didn't have to say that twice. The fat man ran out on all fours like the dog that he was. Ed sighed. It was back to the drawing board. He didn't know what else to do but go back to East City. He really didn't want to do that. It wouldn't lighten his spirits at all to see the Colonel.

"Brother!"

The blonde alchemist looked up and frowned even more at the sight of his armored younger brother. "Hey Al…This was a bust."

Once the armor reached him, it stopped. "You mean…?"

"Yep. It was fake."

"Will we ever get a break?" Alphonse Elric gloomed. He didn't like all of this traveling that they were doing. He had been looking forward to settling down for awhile. Hell, he had been looking forward to eating and sleeping as well. All of those hopes were being put off, though. "I guess that we should go before anyone comes at us in a fit of rage…"

The Elric Brothers started to walk out. Edward examined his arms, realizing that he was missing two valuable things. "Aw, damn. I need a new coat…"

"We'll get you some more fabric when we get back to the city," Alphonse suggested. He figured that Ed would enjoy not going directly to visit Colonel Mustang. He wasn't exactly his older brother's favorite person, but Al was pretty sure that Ed didn't hate him either.

When the two made it outside, they had a bit of a run in with a local girl named Rose. They took care of her with some weighted words of wisdom and took off. Edward really didn't care too much if he helped her or not. He couldn't sway anyone's decisions if they didn't want to be helped. He wasn't at liberty to beat them until they agreed either. People would do whatever they wanted to do. Even if you tried to get them to help themselves, they can only do so much with your urging.

Ed suddenly realized that Al wasn't next to him anymore. He heard the clanking of the armor moving away from him, so he turned around abruptly. "Alphonse! Where are you going?" Seeing that his brother wasn't going to come back, Edward ran to catch up to him.

Alphonse looked at Edward. "Look, Ed. There's a person here."

The Fullmetal Alchemist looked down at the pile of cloth in front of him. The form looked somewhat human, but it was barely recognizable. He got closer to it, poking at the cloak with a stick. "Check to see if it's alive."

The armored brother looked at him in disbelief. "What? Why do I have to? It would be so much easier for you!"

"If it's alive, we might be able to help!"

Alphonse couldn't argue with that. He figured out where the hood of it was and lowered it to reveal a head. It looked like a huge mass of hair covered in dirt, but it was a human head. The younger brother slowly lifted the body so that it could easily be carried. Hearing a slight trace of breathing, Al knew that there was at least a bit of life left. "Still alive! We have to hurry!"

Edward frowned. "We can't go back to Liore. The most that we can do is hurry to the train station. Let's go."

The brothers hurried to the station with their patient in hand. Neither one of them knew who this person was or what sort of things they were associated with. The Elric Brothers had no idea what would happen as long as the stranger was in their care.

* * *

Near the station, there were multiple housing buildings available. Edward was the one to rent it as to not cause a disturbance with his giant suit of armor brother and the unconscious person in his arms. Once or twice on the way there, they had checked to make sure that they weren't carrying around a corpse. This one was a fighter, but there was only so much their body could do without proper care. While he was there, Ed bought some aiding materials in case they needed them.

Inside their house, they gave their guest a bed. While Edward was sorting out all of the medical stuff, Alphonse was straightening out the unconscious one's condition. Yes, they had fainted at some point. He knew that, but if they woke up all covered in dust, it could send them back into who knows what. He detached some hair from the face, cleaning it off in a small container of water to discover that it was a blonde color lighter than his brother's. He also cleared off the guest's dirt-caked face, noticing how its structure was different than an that of an Amestrian.

"Hey, Brother…This person doesn't look like they're from Amestris," said Al, removing the tattered cloak from the newly discovered blonde and setting it to the side.

Edward walked to them and glanced over his brother's shoulder. He could tell that it was foreign but where was it from then? "It doesn't look like any foreigner I've ever seen. Besides, what sex is it anyway?" Ed considered for a moment that it could be male, but it could also be female because of the amount of hair and the slender figure. More points went to male because of the lack of breasts upon the chest, but not all women had large ones.

Al sighed. "That's not a very nice thing to say, Ed…" He continued to swipe off the dust from the guest's skin. "I don't know, really…It's hard to tell right now…" He found a bunch of scars all over the bare arms. It looked sort of like this person got into many fights from the amount of them.

The older brother noticed this and chuckled. "We got a fighter on our hands. Those look like they came from swords or something."

"A swordfighter?" Alphonse thought of all of the names that he could remember for those. "A ninja? An assassin? Or maybe a knight?"

"That doesn't matter." Edward waved his hand uncaringly. "The point here is that we're saving its ass, and now it owes us."

"Ed…" Al was disappointed that the payback was all that his State Alchemist brother cared about. It wasn't that he himself didn't care about making as many friends as possible. It was more of the courtesy that went with helping someone. He just dismissed it with a shake of his head. "Get some water. Maybe we can get them to drink."

Edward did as he was told, bringing over a cup of water. They managed to get at least a little of it down the stranger's throat. After that affair, they sat around for a few hours, checking the foreigner every so often. Their condition was improving to steady breathing and heartbeat. Alphonse was looking forward to their waking up. He was kind of excited to meet this person.

"Alphonse…I'm heading to bed. It's getting late." The sun had already been set for three hours. Honestly, the Fullmetal Alchemist was quite fatigued. He wanted to just collapse on the bed and forget that there was a complete stranger in the other one. He wanted some energy for the next day.

"All right. Good night~." Al said, though he never took his eyes off of the light blonde. He only heard the dragging noises of Ed getting into bed to know that he had gone. Alphonse wanted to be there when they woke up to explain things. It would be a kind thing to do. He couldn't sleep, so he had nothing better to do. He had cleaned up most of their stranger's body, discovering not too much else other than the evidence of many a struggle.

The armored brother sat there for hours. He didn't say a thing, only staring intently at the foreign face in front of him. It wasn't until the beginnings of the sunrise that there was a sign of movement. It was first a twitch of the hand that Alphonse noticed, followed by the squinting of the eyes. He stared down in excitement. After a moment, the eyelids retracted quickly in unison with a sharp gasp. The stranger sat up immediately, breathing heavily while trying to comprehend where they were.

"It's all right," Alphonse reassured them. "You're safe here."

The light blonde regained a sense of calm, closing their eyes and taking deep breaths. It seemed that time had stopped while the eyes were shut. When they finally opened again, Al got to see the remaining moonlight show him their color of emerald green. They were surprising since Alphonse had never really seen anyone with green eyes besides his mother.

Unsteadily, the person in front of him spoke. "W-…Where am I…?" The voice sounded like it could belong to either a male or a female, but the younger Elric was leaning toward male. He also detected a bit of an accent.

"Well…You're in a small town near a train station…just outside of Liore in the country of Amestris." Alphonse wasn't sure if his supposed male friend understood that. He seemed to know the language, so he couldn't be too much of a foreigner. Al wondered if he was even legal. The could cause a problem.

The stranger blinked a few times, trying to comprehend that. "Where is…this country?"

"In relation to Xing, it's to the west," explained Alphonse. He didn't know if this person knew where that country was either.

"Is…that the strange place near the desert?" the light blonde asked, his voice seeming more melodic with its newfound strength.

Noticing the change in speech, Al found his opportunity to ask. He didn't know if it was a very nice thing to do to someone that he had just met, but it would help if he knew more about them. "Where are you from? You don't sound like you're from any country near here…or look like it…"

It seemed that the stranger was in deep thought for a moment. After considering, he answered "I am from Rome…" Alphonse's reaction still seemed quite confused. He had never heard of that place before. The visitor must have noticed and continued, "The…last that I remember is crossing a vast ocean…and going through that strange country with an…"emperor"…"

"That must be Xing. You went through Xing from…the legendary Areneriatmenead Sea?" He shouted unintentionally. He covered his mouth area and turned toward Edward, relieved to see him still sleeping. Looking back at his guest, he asked again quietly. "You crossed it?"

"I did indeed…It was…very complicated…" He held onto his side, a sharp pain flowing through it. "Ah-!"

Al held up his hands as if to help, but he didn't move at all. "Are you all right?"

"I-It hurts…Ah…" The foreigner shook, trying to resist the pain. He took a few deep breaths before relaxing. "It feels better now…I will be fine…"

Alphonse sat up straight, putting his hands down to dangle at his sides. It was completely silent for a moment. He then realized that he had not introduced himself. "Oh, forgive me for being rude…My name is Alphonse Elric." He held out his hand, hoping that it wouldn't be offensive or anything. He didn't know what the customs of this Rome country were.

The light blonde stared at the hand for a moment, his contemplating emerald eyes scanning over it in suspicion. He took it, jumping back slightly because of how cold it felt. Moving his head upward to meet the metallic gaze of his host, he spoke in a soft lyric. "My name is Marcus Antonius…Usually, I am called Mark Antony…"

Somehow, Al sort of liked that name. It was unusual and had a certain ring to it. "Marcus Antonius? It sounds very strange to me."

"Say what you will," the visitor said, his strength obviously returning. "I am a very respectable citizen of Rome."

The Amestrian tilted his head, pondering that statement. "Respectable citizen? What does that mean?"

"I am Marcus Antonius…Second-in-Command to the Dictator Gaius Julius Caesar-!" He cut himself off. He hadn't thought about that. There was something about that last name that he thought was important to remember. What was it? The memory was just beyond his reach…

His thoughts were broken by a new voice that responded. "Hey Al…Who are you talkin' to?" Alphonse jumped in surprise, turning back to see Edward standing up. He walked over and stopped, seeing the once unconscious thing awake. "Oh. Hello there…"

Marcus looked at Edward like he was some sort of alien. Alphonse noticed and laughed nervously. He motioned toward his older brother with a sweep of his arms. "This is my big brother Edward Elric." He looked back at the other blonde. "He says that his name is Marcus Antonius and that he's ranked right underneath some kind of dictator! Ah…what was his name again? Gaius…something…"

"Gaius Julius Caesar…" The Roman said carefully. "The "Gaius" part is insignificant. No one pays mind to it. Julius Caesar is enough."

"Right. Julius Caesar." Al finished. He did what was sort of like a smile toward his brother. "He seems to be very friendly."

Edward didn't feel like he could trust the foreigner yet. He was still unknown. The Fullmetal Alchemist pulled up a chair and sat on it backwards, rocking back and forth. "Where is he from again?" He spoke as if the guest didn't understand his language.

"It's a country called Rome," explained the younger brother. "He says that he crossed the legendary sea and went through Xing. He must have crossed the desert to get to Liore, too!" Al was quite excited. He looked back at the Roman for a moment, catching the embarrassed look on his face.

"Whoa. You mean you're from some place that we've never explored before?" Ed knew that no one had been able to return from a quest to the legendary sea. There were still many areas between Xing and the ocean, or so they said. That meant that there were also many places to get lost or killed. If this guy had survived it, they could learn so much from him. "What's it like there? And who is this Caesar dictator guy?"

"Brother, please. Leave him alone," Alphonse scolded. "He just woke up, and he's still hurt. We can ask more questions when we get to East City…"

"Crap…Aren't we supposed to leave in a few hours?" Edward asked rushing back to gather his things. He scarcely noticed the way that his brother had jumped up as well, joining him in gathering. Their Roman guest just blinked a few times, trying to figure out what the hell they were talking about.

Alphonse had his objects together, placing them carefully next to his older brother's suitcase and looking back at Marcus for a moment. He laughed nervously. "You see, we have to leave soon…and if you don't mind, we'd like to take you with us~."

The foreigner looked off to the side, considering that for the moment. If they were going to a city, that meant that there may be important people there. Besides, the area around them at the moment was pretty much desert and sand. A place without inhabitants would be the worst thing for Antony right now. He nodded, turning back to Al. "I will go. It will make more sense to stay with people that are hospitable than to find strangers that may be the death of me."

"That is great!" The younger brother shouted quite happily. He quickly expunged that feeling with one of concern. He bent down to be at eye level with the Roman. "Can you stand?"

Edward wandered back over. "It would really suck if we had to carry you all the way to East City…"

Marcus didn't like that idea either. He wasn't useless, and he didn't want any help that made him look like he was. "Move so that I may attempt it." The brothers dispersed, making room for the injured person to get up. He planted his feet firmly on the ground and stood. Though he was a bit wobbly, he could stay on his feet. "It works."

Al sighed in relief. "Good. I was worried for a moment…"

"We have an hour before the train gets here. Wanna go get something to eat?" Ed asked, looking over at the others.

"Pfft. Brother, you know it's stupid to ask me…" If Alphonse could have pouted, that would have been the time to do it. "Find something that he'll like."

"You want me to bring him along?" Ed sounded like he was a bit pouty about that himself.

"No, just find something that would work!"

Edward rolled his eyes. The only way to do that would be to bring their visitor with him. He looked over. "What sort of food do normally eat?"

That was probably a weird thing to ask. Antony knew the words…just not their translation. He shook his head. "I do no think that it would be of any help for me to say…The words are different in our languages…"

Alphonse sighed. "Just get what you usually eat. We can try those."

"All right. I'll be back!"

The door closed. The remaining two stood in silence until the older brother returned with something to eat. Though it was strange for him to eat, the foreigner ate them with little complaint. Al could tell that he was displeased, though. When the time came for them leave, everyone readied themselves by straightening clothing and gathering things. Alphonse returned the bag of things to Marcus, receiving a bit of a cautious look before the latter turned to check the contents.

As the train pulled up, the trio rushed to go meet it. Though the Roman was a bit overwhelmed by its appearance and function, they managed to explain it quickly with an understanding achieved. All before noon, they were seated and on their way to the city.

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Yes, Alphonse has a strange interest in Antony. It might be because he's pretty, or the fact that their names start with "A". I don't know. At the end here, I was just trying to close it off, so I'm sorry if it sucks. Updates are going to be...whenever I feel like writing. Since I'm a writer with a bit of insomnia, that'll be more often than you think. Haha. Readers are good. Flames are not. If you have a problem with it, why are you reading it? That's just common sense, people.


	3. Chapter 2: From The Sky, She Fell

**Chapter 2: From The Sky, She Fell**

Author's Notes: Chapter 2 is earlier than I certainly thought that it would be! This chapter is a bit more fun than the prologue and last chapter. A few weird things happen, but I think that we had our calm before the storm here...Possibly. Not much to say about this chapter except that the oc here belongs to my friend who's more like a sister to me Springflowerangel~**.**

The word-count of this chapter is about 2200. Not as bad as Chapter 1. ^^;

**Disclaimers: Fullmetal Alchemist belongs to Hiromu Arakawa (who is awesome)**  
** The Tragedy of Julius Caesar belongs to William Shakespeare (who is awesome and dead)**  
** The appearances of the Romans belong to me because of my original story. If you would rather be reading something like that, you have to talk to me. Hurr~.**  
** The few OCs that appear belong to myself and my friends.**

Thanks to Springflowerangel and the person that put this story on alert the other day! You two get internet cookies!

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The train stopped abruptly, awakening the Fullmetal Alchemist in a startled yelp. He found the other two still in front of him, thankfully. Though it had come to a halt, it would be a few more minutes before the passengers could depart. Before he had fallen asleep, Edward had noticed how captivated the Roman had been with the scenery outside. Surely, it wasn't any different from his homeland. All around the world the landscapes were pretty much the same, weren't they? Still, Antony had watched the trees and grass scroll by as if it was the first time that he had ever stepped outside. Ed wasn't entirely sure now that he had been staring at the land, however, since he still had that same expression. He wondered if there was something wrong mentally with the other blonde. If that was the case, they needed to figure it out quickly. He would have brought it up to Alphonse, but his brother seemed to be captivated by the newcomer. He started to think that Marcus had put Al under a spell until he thought of how stupid that sounded. Edward wasn't a little kid that believed in that stuff. He was like a scientist, and they didn't think that magic existed. That helped him clear his head of those stupid thoughts.

"Brother, we can leave now." Al's voice distracted his older brother from his insane thoughts, causing him to look over. "You don't want to get left behind, do you?"

"Of course not! Let's go!"

The Elric Brothers and the stray Roman left the train, not saying much about where they were going. It didn't occur to Ed how quiet Antony was until they had left the station. He looked back to be met with an equally surprised gaze. He paused to speak to the foreigner. "Don't wander off or talk to strangers."

Alphonse leaned over, lowing his voice to almost a whisper. "If they find out that you don't have a legal pass to be here, they might take you to jail."

Contrary to what Edward thought, Antony knew what that was. He nodded, understanding full well the situation. "I will stay quiet about it."

Walking a little ways ahead of the other two, Ed realized that he had no idea how an immigrant could get the paperwork to get their pass. He looked back at Al, blinking a few times. "Do you have any idea where we should go?"

"Hm…" The younger brother considered for a moment, "You could always ask the Colonel. He might know…"

"Ugh…I don't want to talk to him right now…" Edward waved his hand uncaringly. "He'll just gloat about how I failed miserably at finding the stone again."

Antony took this opportunity to speak up. "I have no idea what you are talking about…Please explain?"

The armored boy looked down at Marcus, receiving a look of curiosity in return. "There's not much we can say out here in the open…Basically, Colonel Mustang is the man in charge in this city," Edward huffed in response to that, causing Alphonse to reconsider his words, "or at least he acts like it. We always have to report to him about what we're doing."

"In return, he keeps our secret," chimed Ed as he started to walk. "Let's grab a bite to eat before we go see him."

Before Edward could take two more steps out from under the awning, a sharp scream was heard. He scarcely had time to look up when a female butt landed on him. His companions stood quietly, both shocked and confused at the same time. Making a silent agreement to inspect the situation, they ran over to see what had happened up close.

Alphonse stared sideways at his brother, trying to see his head underneath the girl on top of him. "Why do you attract girls like this, Big Brother?" Hearing the young woman say something, he quickly held out his hand. "I'll help you up." The slender hand took his, being helped off of the no doubt uncomfortable boy beneath her. Once she was off, Edward reached his hand up to grab Antony's, pulling himself up and thanking him for one reason or another.

"Ugh…That hurt a bit," said the female, rubbing her backside. "You were not very comfortable to land on either."

Edward looked over at her angrily. "Why'd you have to land on me then?"

Alphonse held up his hands. "Now, now, don't be so mean, Brother." He looked at the girl that had appeared. "We're all glad that you weren't hurt too badly."

"Yeah, well the only thing that really hurt was something poking into my side. What was that anyway?" she eyed the short blonde that had been her cushion. He scoffed and looked off to the side, catching the never faltering gaze of the Roman that happened to be next to him at the time. What could he possibly be staring at this time?

Taking a good look at the girl, they noticed that her hair was long and brown. It waved down her back in assorted patterns. Her clothes were neatly hanging off of her body, giving her a sense of tranquility and order. Her left hand was still cupped as if it was holding something. Noticing that everyone's eyes had gone to that spot, she looked down and gasped. Unclenching her hand, a small bird was seen in her palm.

"Whoops. I nearly forgot about you," she said regretfully. Waving her hand over the young thing, a bright haze surrounded the bird. Within moments, the creature flapped its wings and circled the area. It landed in a tree, chirping happily. "Good as new."

The group stared at her in shock. Al shook his head to straighten out his thoughts. "How did you do that?"

"It's just something that I learned," explained the girl, an insignificant tone in her voice. She looked around, her expression suddenly becoming puzzled. "Wait a minute…where am I?" Her eyes took in the surroundings as if they were completely different from anything she herself had seen. "This isn't my home…"

Edward took a few steps closer to her. "You mean…you're not from around here?"

"Not at all," she said in clear disappointment. "I have never seen this place before…"

Alphonse spoke up. "Where are you from?"

"Not here, it seems." Her indirect answer meant that they weren't going to get one at all. She seemed too upset by her new location to clearly explain herself.

Alphonse took notice of how uncomfortable the new girl looked and put his hand on her shoulder. "Everything will be all right. You're not the only person here that isn't from Amestris." He looked over at Antony, who had stayed quiet like he agreed to, although Al figured that he was taking it a bit too seriously. "We'll figure out how to get you home."

"Oh, thank you, Mr. Armor," she said, a glint of happiness returning to her voice.

"My name is Alphonse Elric," introduced the younger Elric. "This is Edward, my older brother, and our friend Marcus Antonius. We met not too long ago in a similar situation…"

Edward waved halfheartedly, receiving a sigh from his younger brother. Antony waved, not entirely sure that he knew whether or not he should. As long as he didn't mention where he was from, it seemed to be all right.

The girl smiled, holding her head up high. "My name is…Kairi~." She stopped for a moment, not contemplative as if she was lying, but as if she had to remember how to say it. "It is very nice to meet you all."

Everyone stood there after making some response of either a grunt of another nod. Ed broke the silence in his usual, loudmouth voice. "Well, I think it's time to go eat. I'm hungry!" Agreeing with that notion, the others followed as Edward led the way to a nice restaurant. It was completely empty, minus the group that had just entered. They were seated in the back room, isolated from any other parties that may have entered afterward. The brothers were on one side of the table, and the foreigners were seated on the other. Ordering their meals, they sat in quiet, trivial conversation until their drinks arrived.

It was Alphonse that broke the silence, his voice inquiring. "So Kairi, what were you doing before you landed on my brother?" An obvious grunt of annoyance came from Edward's direction.

"I had crawled out to the end of a tree limb to help that bird," Kairi explained, her voice trailing in a melody that seemed familiar to Al. She turned to Antony and kept talking. "Its wing was hurt, and I was afraid that it would hurt itself." A small giggle followed as she went to use her straw to swirl her drink. Edward wondered if she was playing or genuinely amused by the small piece of plastic. Before he could whisper to his brother, her voice went on. "I lost my balance after I had caught the little darling, so I covered it with both hands before I fell."

"That was a brave thing to do." Alphonse watched her finally take a sip at her glass of water. "The two of us are trying to find the Philosopher's Stone." The look that Ed gave Al was uneasy. He didn't leave the subject though. He leaned forward, causing all of the others to do the same. "We kind of need it to fix something…so we're traveling all over to find it."

Noticing the confused looks on the faces across from them, Edward went on, figuring that their cover was blown anyway. "The Philosopher's Stone is the ultimate alchemic catalyst. For example, you can make gold from lead."

"Is that what you are using it for?" Antony asked. The Elrics were surprised to hear his voice after it had been silent for so long. Edward wasn't too fond of the annoyed look on the Roman's face.

"No, no," Alphonse chuckled. "We need it for a more personal reason than that."

"That guy we mentioned earlier, Roy Mustang, is usually the one to give us new leads on it," Ed went on, taking a long drink afterward as a sign that Al should continue.

The hint was taken, and the younger brother finished off that portion of the conversation. "That's what we were doing when we found you, Antony. We had just finished following up one of those leads, but it was fake."

The Fullmetal Alchemist looked up, meeting the gaze of the blonde across the table. "So tell us about yourself."

"Edward…That's not very—" Alphonse started.

"No, it is fine," Marcus interrupted. He didn't want Ed to get in trouble when there was no reason for it. He simply shrugged. "I do not even remember why I am here. I was not lying when I said that I last remembered the ocean and the other country…"

"That is a shame," Kairi said softly. She folded her hands on the table. "I hope you remember soon."

Edward frowned. He was wishing for a more satisfying answer. He opened his mouth to speak, but was cut off when the waiter arrived with their meals. All conversation was dropped in order to chow down on the food in front of them. Every now and then, someone would burp or drop food in their laps, which would ensue a group laughter. They held a sort of connection, or at least that was what Ed started to think. He didn't know why he was so amused by the outlanders on the other side of the table. He thought that they were different, and that must have been what he liked.

Ed also wanted to know why Alphonse liked them so much. He had taken to Antonius as soon as he had picked him off of the ground and Kairi as soon as she had fallen from the heavens. Something told him that they weren't going to leave anytime soon since Al had been kind to them.

Did he really want them to go away, though? It was nice to have company other than Alphonse. It wasn't that he was annoying or anything. It was just a change to talk to someone other than his brother, which he had done for years upon years. Other people existed, and he was finally getting to know some of them.

Maybe it wouldn't be a bad thing at all.

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When they had finished their meals, they all got up and followed the Fullmetal Alchemist outside. Kairi looked over at him, blinking her eyes. "Hey, Mr. Shorty…"

Edward stopped, allowing Alphonse to bump into him unintentionally. He sharply glared at the girl, the illusion of a puff of steam coming out of his head. "Excuse me…?"

Al ran in front of Kairi, holding his hands up. "Now, now, Ed…Don't kill her or anything! She's a girl!"

"She called me "Shorty". That's nothing good!"

Kairi peeked out from behind the giant suit of armor. "He was going to murder me?" She stuck her tongue out at him. "No way. He couldn't do that! He's too itty bitty!"

That was it. Edward charged toward her. Alphonse's shout of "Run!" was a bit misplaced as Kairi had already bolted away. He looked over at Antony, his voice sounding worried. "Don't ever say that to him, all right?" Well, he didn't need to really say that anymore. Without so much as another breath, the remaining members of the group chased after Ed and Kairi, hoping that the latter wasn't a pile of dead flesh.

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I feel like things weren't as smooth as I wanted them in this chapter. Stay tuned for the next chapter where a few new characters appear! I'll give you a hint: One of their names is in this chapter!

Again, Thank you for reading. Just knowing that people are reading this story makes me happy.


	4. Chapter 3: The Office of Ordeals

**Chapter 3: The Office of Ordeals**

Author's Notes: I'm up late again. Can't sleep. If there are any grammatical errors, that's probably why. I had to change this chapter. Originally, we were going to learn more about Kairi and Antony in this chapter, but you'll just have to wait for that! I swear, you won't be disappointed.

I wanna say that this is 2300 words or so? I'm not sure...**  
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**Disclaimers: Fullmetal Alchemist belongs to Hiromu Arakawa (who is awesome)**  
** The Tragedy of Julius Caesar belongs to William Shakespeare (who is awesome and dead)**  
** The appearances of the Romans belong to me because of my original story. If you would rather be reading something like that, you have to talk to me. Hurr~.**  
** The few OCs that appear belong to myself and my friends.**

Thanks to YaoiCaesarGirl for being awesome and helping me remember that I can write. Hehe~.**  
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It wasn't until later that Alphonse finally talked Edward into going to see the Colonel. They took their train through the city, making sure that neither Marcus nor Kairi escaped them to fall into anyone else's hands. Rather than waiting for Mustang in a civilized manner, Edward marched them right up to his door and threw it open. Everyone inside looked over in surprise only to find that it was Ed. In time, they all looked back to their work. It was a bit disappointing that he hadn't shocked them all that time. He needed to work on his entry methods again.

The Colonel smirked, resting his head over his hands in his usual manner. He was about to speak when a streak of something ran across the room, jumping onto Edward in some sort of demented hug.

"Edward! You're back!" It turned out to be a girl a bit younger than Edward, flying through the air to greet him. Once the boy had pried her off of him, she could be seen fully. Her hair was extremely long, trailing down past her waist to nearly meet the length of Kairi's hair. Her eyes were a dark color of blue that could be mistaken for black, and they looked to be sparkling with some sort of joyful tears at that moment. "What took you so long?"

"We were out following up a lead, Kaori…" Edward groaned, making sure that nothing was broken. "Where were you?"

"Ah…" She blinked a few times, looking a bit nervous. "I was in the bathroom?" It was more of a question than a statement obviously. Edward just waved his hand, trying to get her to go away so that he could talk to the man across the room without her clinging to him.

Getting the hint that they wanted to chat alone, Roy dismissed everyone, and that included the girl named Kaori. The Elric Brothers' group approached the desk, receiving a look of interested from the Colonel. "It looks like you've picked up a few friends since I last saw you."

"I wouldn't call them friends…" Ed started to say, but he felt Alphonse hit him in the arm a bit too hard to be playful. "Well, we just…haven't known each other long enough to be anything more than acquaintances."

"What are they doing here, then?" Mustang asked. He noticed that the other two were exceptionally quiet. Either they were shy, or Ed and Al told them to keep quiet. "They look like you've hypnotized them or something."

Alphonse took notice of how Antony seemed to have an air of anger about him and put his hand on the Roman's shoulder. "We found both of them on our way back. Antony was unconscious in the desert, and Kairi fell on top of Edward from somewhere we don't know."

Roy cocked an eyebrow, staring at them. "Where are you two from exactly?"

The two visitors stayed quiet. Kairi moved to stand behind Al, feeling safe behind him. She didn't want to say anything first and resolved to wait until Marcus spoke up. She thought that there was something mediating about him like he could fix things somehow. Kairi also thought that the younger Elric brother could help out as well. To her, he seemed like a good person to stay close to since he had such a kind disposition. He just seemed like a great guy.

Seeing that he wasn't going to get an answer, the Colonel sighed, standing up. "Look, I can tell that neither of you are native to this country. If you don't answer me, both of you will be placed under arrest for being illegal immigrants. Do you understand me?" He focused on the male foreigner, staring at him with a trademark flame-like look in his eyes. Much to his surprise, a similar gaze met his. Roy could tell that this one was a stubborn brat.

"I hope that Jupiter strikes you down where you stand…" Antony said, a chilling tone in his voice. Edward, Alphonse and Kairi all took a step away from the Roman and the Colonel. Roy's eyes had actually widened slightly. There was something wrong with this man, and that would make him hard to break.

Not quite in the mood to be attacked yet, Mustang looked over at Kairi, who shrunk back away behind the armored brother. She wasn't going to let herself be put away in a nasty place. Quietly, she said "I-I…I think that I am from Rome…" Those few words caught the attention of Antonius, who looked over at her like she had transformed into an octopus or something. She nodded quickly. "It is true! Please do not hurt me!"

Looking satisfied by that answer, Roy looked back to the blonde one in front of him. "I'm giving you one more chance to answer me. Where are you from?" Still receiving silence, he reached up to grab Antony's collar, but he was intercepted by a small knife going into his wrist. Everyone else in the room jumped in surprise.

Before he could pull his hand away, a very dark voice said "I am a nobleman of Rome…Do not cross me…" Together, Marcus removed his defensive blade, and Roy pulled his hand back, placing it in the grasp of his other hand. Before the Colonel could do anything, Alphonse appeared in front of the blonde Roman.

"Please don't be angry with him!" he shouted. Edward looked at his brother in shock as if he himself was surprised at how Al was defending Antony. "I know that he is a kind person…Don't do anything to him without listening to what he has to say!"

"Al…what are you saying?" Ed asked, taking a step forward. He was now in possession of Kairi, who was bending down to hide behind him, so he stayed pretty much where he had been before. "Why would you defend someone like him?"

"Are you trying to say that I am some kind of savage beast?" Edward soon regretted what he had said, stepping back twice to put a larger distance between himself and the Roman. He personally thought that the man was crazy, but he had to consider how different their cultures must have been. He didn't know anything about Antony or Rome itself. Who was he to call him on insanity?

Marcus eventually shook his head, seemingly trying to calm himself. He dropped the knife, and the sound of its impact rang against the walls of the room like gunfire. Alphonse turned to him. "What's wrong?"

The Roman fell to his knees, staring downward. He put his hands together on the floor and spoke softly. "Jupiter, forgive me…I went against my promise to you in anger. Put upon me whatever punishment is fit for your satisfaction…"

The Amestrians and Kairi stared, the former being absolutely puzzled. Edward didn't understand this gesture for more reasons than just the fact that their countries were separated by a large distance. He had never understood religion in the first place. Seeing it before him was even more confusing.

"It's all right." The awkward silence was broken by Kairi's voice. "You did not mean to do it, so you can stand up now."

Everyone glanced up to see the girl standing in front of the blonde foreigner without having taken a step. She held out her hand and smiled. "There's no need to be sad about that because you are a good person at heart. Stand up with me, and we can help to explain everything to them."

Antony didn't know what to say in response. He took her hand, standing up with a surprisingly strong force helping him, and looked at Roy. "I am sorry for what I did…"

The Colonel smirked after having wrapped up his wrist. "It's fine. I won't mention it when I speak for you as a reference." He went back to his seat behind his desk, placing his hand comfortable on the hard wood to support it. "I'll have Lieutenant Hawkeye take the two of them to the people who handle these things." He looked at Edward for a moment, considering what to say. "The two of you can stay here and tell me about your trip." As if Roy had summoned them with some sort of telepathy, all of his subordinates returned to the room. He soon began to bark orders. "Hawkeye, take these two foreigners down to the Immigrant Station! Havoc, go with her and help the workers with descriptions! Breda, you and Falman get back to work on those files!"

Jean Havoc raised his hand, looking a bit uneasy. "Sir…Why am I going with them?" One could see that he was nervously staring at the wound on his superior.

In response, Mustang snickered. "Your eyes take in more details than a camera does…You can help them write their descriptions in the reports."

Before anyone could even start to leave the room, Kairi struggled as soon as Jean opened his mouth to speak. She shied away, hiding behind Alphonse again. "No! I am not going! Not without Alphonse!" The younger brother looked down at her in surprise. Little tears appeared in her eyes. "I want him to come with us…Pretty please?"

Since Al was such a nice guy, he instantly responded "Of course, Kairi! I'll go with you." He didn't care too much for what Edward was thinking. He just wanted to be kind to their visitors.

Ed sighed, watching as the group left. He could tell that his brother got along better with the two Romans than he did. He felt a bit pissed off. They had gotten a hold of the two before the rest of the country could. He and Al had gotten to them before the rest of Amestris could screw with their minds. It wasn't right that he didn't get a bit of respect. Thinking back on it, he hadn't exactly walked over and found the weak and possibly dying Antony in the sand. He _had _been there when Kairi fell from the sky, but obviously, to get her respect, he needed to help her up and make sure she was all right. It didn't set well with him that he gained no thanks from either of them. Edward wasn't just the sidekick to Super Armor over there. He could have done everything that Alphonse had.

He hadn't, though. He had watched while Al nursed the blonde one back to health. He hadn't exactly given the Kairi reason to like him either, chasing her around crazily. The alchemist knew that he could have done more, and he was going to try to get to know the pair since they were most likely going to be around for awhile.

After realizing what he was supposed to be doing, he looked at the Colonel. "What do you want to hear about first?"

"Since the two of you are still the way you were when you left, I can see for myself that the lead was a dead end," Roy replied. He looked more serious now that the topic was changed to a more important one. He turned to his remaining man. "Fuery…research the myths surrounding the sea. We need to find something about these visitors…" As the glasses character went to the shelves, he went back to his conversation with Edward. "What do you know about them?"

"Which one should I start with? They're not exactly the same at all," explained Ed. He couldn't see the point in giving a common description if it was inaccurate.

"Start with the girl."

"Well," he started, "all that we really know about her is that she fell from a tree and landed on me." He stopped for a moment, thinking of how that had rhymed. "She also instantly healed a bird. No ideas how, though."

"That could just be some sort of trick, I suppose," Roy reasoned. "What about the other one?"

Edward had to think a bit longer on that. He wasn't quite sure what to say. "It was just like we told you. Alphonse found him and took care of him until he woke up. All that we learned was that he came from Rome and that his name was Marcus Antonius. Since then, we have only learned that he has no memory of anything before he crossed the sea other than his being under someone named Julius Caesar." He looked a bit upset at himself for not beating answers out of him until he remembered that he was supposed to be thinking nice thoughts about Antony and Kairi. "Anyway, he seems to be a bit…out of it. Maybe if we talked him through his past…we could help both ourselves and his memories."

"That sounds like a good plan…When they come back, we'll start." Roy said, making it up as he went. "Think of what might trigger his memories."

Thinking back on it, Ed remembered a far off look in Marcus's eyes when he mentioned that person he served under. That could have been his weakness or maybe this man was some sort of key. He knew that they would get some sort of answers if they tried to talk the Roman into telling them everything. A trip down memory lane was just what they needed.

However, downstairs, the horror was going to begin again for both Antonius and Kairi…

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It's a bit of a cliffhanger, but I promise you that you will get the background information on our buddies. I'm on a roll. I'm going straight to the next chapter now! Byebye!


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